Question: Am I eligible to migrate to Australia? Can I get Australian Permanent Residency?

This is a fully loaded question that I can spend a few days explaining. So let me break it down into 3 simple areas of "eligibility".

There are 3 main areas that I will talk about, that is:

• Skilled Migration
• Employer Sponsored Migration
• Family Sponsored Migration

Let's start with Skilled Migration. This migration pathway is if you want to apply for Australian Permanent Residency independently, based on your qualifications and work experience in a specific occupation. That means without the support of an employer or sponsoring relative. That is not to say that you cannot be sponsored by an employer or relative, as there are avenues within Skilled Migration that allow for this. However, to keep things simple it is primarily for skilled people who want to live and work in Australian permanently. This includes skills that are considered professional (university qualified) and trade related (TAFE / college / technically qualified).

To be eligible for Skilled Migration, the Australian government has put into a place a points-based eligibility system, where if you have sufficient points (that correspond to your age, English skills, qualifications and work experience, etc) then you are eligible apply for Australian Permanent Residency. The main subclasses (types) of visas under the Skilled Migration umbrella are 189, 190, 489, and 485.

Now, Employer Sponsored Migration is kind of self-explanatory. This migration pathway is if you have a job offer from an Australian employer that is willing to sponsor you to live and work in Australia. Obviously, in order to be eligible for a visa, you must posses the relevant qualifications and some work experience in order to apply. If you are in this situation, you are off to a great start.

The other obvious things to note is that the Australian employer must also meet certain criteria in order to sponsor you. This includes being a genuine business with a genuine need in a vacant role, advertising the position to the Australian labour market, offering a market rate salary and other requirements set out by the Migration Act and Regulations. The subclasses (types) of these visas are the 186, 187, and 457 (which has a route to Permanent Residency after two years of work).

Lastly, Family Sponsored Migration is the other main pathway to gain Australian Permanent Residency. This pathway is for relatives of Australian Citizens or Permanent Residents. This includes partners (spouses and fiancés), children, parents, and other last remaining or orphaned relatives. There are a plethora of subclasses within the Family Sponsored Migration program, too many to list without me looking like I'm writing a mathematical equation to the big bang theory.

So there you have it folks. Australian Permanent Residency broken down into 3 main categories.

For more categories, or more information about the above migration pathways, just email us at solutions@visaone.com.au and we will get back to you.

From the desk of Yuri Marshall | Changing Lives Everyday